SOWK 107 - Social Work

SOWK 107: COMMUNITY LEARNING SEMINAR I
3 CREDITS

This course introduces the role of social work leadership within human service organizations that are either Indigenous organizations or organizations that serve Indigenous people, within the broader Canadian context. The course contracts Eurocentric concepts of leadership with Indigenous ‘ways of knowing’ with which to understand the spectrum of organizational types and structures that serve Indigenous peoples in Canada and their challenges. This course will explore the range of organizations that serve Indigenous people as well as the structure and function of organizations. Students will learn the importance of administration in organizations that provide social services and the relationship between services and the implementation of various policies. Within this context, students will learn mainstream management and leadership concepts as well as Indigenous perspectives on leadership. Students will explore the challenges of Indigenous leadership development within the current Canadian context of government legislative and funding systems that influence the actualization of autonomous Indigenous decolonizing efforts. Within this spectrum of service delivery and environmental influences, students will apply critical thinking skills that will assist them in developing their own leadership styles or preferences within the scope of practice that most interests them.